A Tactician and a Strategist
by Blu Rose
Summary: A story about a tactician from a land named Ylisse and a self-deprecating strategist in an army called Shu. She wanted to observe him for tactical knowledge and he agreed to let her, but neither knew it would lead to this. (Fire EmblemxDynasty Warriors crossover oneshot. Xu Shu x F!Avatar/Robin.)


**What is this? Why am I here? I don't even… Oh, wait, I remember. This plot bunny wouldn't stop nibbling at me, and the nuisance got more and more persistent as I played through Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires—the first Dynasty Warriors game I've ever played for main console. But of all the things, why a crossover? Why Fire Emblem: Awakening? Why pair up Xu Shu with the Avatar/MyUnit/Robin? My mind is a weird and scary place… Anyway, I'm gonna pretend that there's actually someone reading this and say to enjoy this piece of crack. I'm gonna go hide in a corner and wait for the hate and criticism to rain down.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Dynasty Warriors or Fire Emblem, she only owns copies of a game or two from their series._

_Story Summary: She wanted to observe him for tactical knowledge and he agreed to let her. Neither one knew it would turn out like this. (Xu Shu x F!Robin/Avatar/MyUnit)_

_Special Note: For those who haven't played a Fire Emblem game support links go in the order C, B, A, S from lowest to highest with S only being obtainable once with a character of the opposite gender. Also, since the Avatar's appearance can be decided by the player, there isn't much of a physical description of her here._

**X-X-X**

_*~A Tactician and a Strategist~*_

_*~Rank C: Observation~*_

Alone in a grassy field, Xu Shu took a breath before he drew his blade. He began practicing his swordplay, performing swings and slashes against an imaginary opponent. Ordinarily, he would be able to relax and focus on his training, but something felt…off. It wasn't necessarily that feeling of wariness he would feel when he was in enemy territory, but was still unnerving. He turned on his heel in the midst of a swing and almost dropped his sword when he noticed something. "Ah! You!"

Robin blinked and tilted her head slightly. "Something wrong?"

"How…how long have you been there?"

"Since you started." And she didn't say a word until now? "Oh, don't mind me. Please, continue."

Xu Shu stared at the blue-clad tactician for a few seconds before he spoke again, "Um, would you like to spar together or…?" He trailed off when he saw her shaking her head. "No?"

"Nope. I'm content with watching you."

"O…kay."

Robin arched an eyebrow as the man stared at her, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze. "Is something the matter?"

"Uh…having you stare at me like that's making me uncomfortable," the green-clad tactician admitted.

"Oh. Sorry about that. I was just taking in how you fight," Robin explained. "I suppose it's a habit of mine to just want to know what my comrades can do. But if I'm disrupting your training, I'll just leave." She began to walk backwards, away from the green-clad strategist before speaking again, "I'll just try to observe you the next time we're on the battlefield together."

"That would likely turn into a bad situation…" Xu Shu mumbled, tugging on the collar of his robe. Just the thought of her staring at him with that focused look in the midst of battle… The chances of it ending well were slim. "So…I'll let you observe me, if only for the sake of tactical implementation."

Robin smiled and clapped her hands together. "Great! Okay, I'll get settled in right here and you just…do your thing."

Xu Shu stared at the tactician for a few seconds before he turned his back on her. He took a deep breath and began practicing his sword swings. After two well-practiced swings, his too-lax grip on the hilt resulted in the sword flying out of his hands and falling onto the sword with an uncomfortable clatter.

The strategist and the tactician stood still in uncomfortable silence. After several seconds, Robin began, "Are you—?"

"It's okay! I mean, _I'm_ okay…" Xu Shu tugged at the collar of his robe as he cleared his throat. "This'll just take some getting used to…" He mumbled to himself as he approached the blade on the ground.

**X-X-X**

_*~Rank B: Hands-On~*_

Xu Shu sighed as he sat on the ground, plucking blades of grass, his sheathed weapon resting next to him. A week ago, Robin had begun observing him for _'tactical reasons'_ which the tactician claimed she did with both her past and current comrades. Initially, having someone watch him as he trained made him feel as nervous as a mouse being observed by a hungry cat. Now, finally, when he had a moment alone to practice…he felt uncomfortable _without_ having someone watch him.

"I'll just wait a few more minutes and then I'll begin…"

"Sorry I'm late!" The strategist jumped at the sound of Robin screaming as she ran into the area, holding a pair of wooden swords. "I was busy with some things and lost track of time. Here you go." She dropped a wooden sword into Xu Shu's lap. "Now, let's fight."

He looked up at her in confusion. "Each other?"

The tactician laughed and arched an eyebrow. "Of course each other! Who else is there?"

"No, I mean…I thought you were just observing me. Why the sudden change of methods?"

Robin shrugged. "Simply watching you fight an invisible opponent isn't very informative, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by watching you fight in battle or asking someone else to join us, so…I thought I'd just spar with you." She smiled in a teasing manner. "Unless you're afraid of beating up a woman, or worse: _getting_ beaten up by a woman." When she got no reaction, she frowned. "That usually either gets me something out of Ma Chao…"

Xu Shu stared at the blue-clad tactician before he stood up. "Alright. Let's begin."

Several minutes later, both the strategist and the tactician stood, panting from the workout. Robin was the first to fall backwards and started to fan herself. "Ah… Phew! That was…really something." She blinked when she noticed Xu Shu staring at her. "What's with the look?"

"…You weren't taking this seriously, were you?"

"Hm? No. Like I said, I was just observing you. Although…hmmm…" Robin fell silent and stared at Xu shu for what felt like a long time to the green-clad man.

"What? What is it? I really don't like it when you stare at me like that!" It made him feel like she was judging him, though what, he didn't know.

"Huh? Oh, sorry! I drifted off into thought for a moment there." Robin stood up, dusting off the lower half of her robe. "I was just thinking that this was an ineffective way to observe your fighting style. I mean, _this_," She waved the wooden sword she was holding a bit, "Is nothing like your sword, so that was limiting your fighting options. Hmm… This is going to need more study. Hope you don't mind, but I'll have to observe you for a while longer." Before he could give her an answer, Robin took the wooden sword out of his hand and walked away.

"…I wonder if it's really worth it to observe me for so long," Xu Shu thought with a sigh. "I'm starting to wonder if she's even going to use the knowledge."

**X-X-X**

_*~Rank A: Conclusion~*_

"Ah, finally some time alone to myself…" Xu Shu mumbled to himself as he closed the door of his relatively modest little home. "I have some time to myself before having to go to the strategy meeting later, though I have no idea why they still want my opinion with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong already there… Do I even have anything to preoccupy me until then?" He thought out loud, scratching his chin.

There was a knock at the door, prompting Xu Shu to turn and open the door. Standing outside was Robin with her hands behind her back. "Hey there, Xu Shu. Are you free?"

"For a little while." His answer made the tactician smile, and that made the strategist feel uncomfortable. "I don't think I have enough time to train together or—"

"That's okay. I just want to talk, that's all. Do you mind if I...come in?"

"Not at all." Xu Shu stood aside, allowing Robin to walk in. She swung her arms at a rhythm as she took a look around. After a few seconds of silence, the man spoke up, "So, what exactly did you come to talk about?"

"Since you put up with me for so long, I figured I ought to give you a gift. Sort of a reward for your troubles." She held her hands out in front of her, holding a small wrapped bundle.

"Well…thank you." Xu Shu took the bundle from Robin's hands. "But this is unnecessary. The improvement of your strategies is enough of a reward, isn't it?"

"But I feel like I've been a nuisance to you. I mean, I can still remember the way you acted around me at first. I didn't think you were so modest…" The green-clad strategist mumbled something under his breath as his cheeks reddened for a brief moment. Robin smiled as she continued, "Besides, I completed the other thing I set out to do. I wanted us to become friends."

"…Friends?"

Robin played with her hair as she looked about the home. "I suppose you could say I like making friends. But in this strange land with strange customs, I tend to worry about whether or not I'm breaking some rule and upsetting people… Would it be bad to say that we're friends?"

Xu Shu smiled and shook his head. "Not at all."

The tactician smiled. "Great! Well, since you said you're only free for a while, I'll leave now. Goodbye." She bowed and let herself out.

The strategist opened the bundle to reveal a book with a folded piece of paper on top of the cover. Opening the paper revealed neat, but still fragmented Chinese writing. Xu Shu, however, could still make out the phrase "thank you". "Friends… Huh."

**X-X-X**

_*~Rank S: Confession~*_

Robin was sitting down on a rock in a field just outside of town. She absentmindedly scratched her cheek and tapped her feet as she felt herself relax in the middle of nature. After a few seconds, she felt eyes on her, just like she had for the past few days. Not exactly hostile, but still annoying.

"Hey. Um… Can we talk?" At the sound of a familiar voice, Robin's disposition lightened up a bit. She looked over her shoulder and, at the sight of Xu Shu, nodded and stood up. "This might sound odd, but I miss having your eyes on me…" He scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks reddened with a blush. "I mean that I've grown to like your presence. More so than just a friend would…"

Robin held a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Um… A-are you saying what I _think_ you're saying?"

"That depends. Do you feel the same way?" Xu Shu scratched the back of his head. "I'd understand if you didn't. After all, I'm sure there are better men out there for you to consider."

The tactician frowned. "I really wish you'd stop saying things like that, especially before I answer." She blushed and cleared her throat. "I can honestly say that I after watching you for some time, I've…come to love you."

They both gave dumb smiles to each other as they each felt warmth fill them. The strategist and the tactician stood in silence for a few seconds before the former suddenly wrapped the latter up in his arms and hugged her tightly. "Even though there's a part of me that's not sure if I deserve you, I'm glad you return my feelings. I promise I'll do my very best to protect you and help make this a peaceful land to spend the rest of our lives together."

"We'll do it together."

Their lips then met for a kiss as a pair of birds flew off together.

**X-X-X**

…**Is someone still reading this? Well, I'm 90 to 95 percent sure that this is a bad fic, but at least I can say I did a Dynasty Warriors story **_**and**_** a Fire Emblem story. Even if it **_**is**_** crack and crap. Plus, all the other good DW and FE fics will look like diamonds in comparison to this lump of coal. I will admit that it was difficult writing this in the form of an FE support. Now I know why some of the supports in the game are kinda lackluster… Also, I feel like I've made Xu Shu out of character, but it's hard to get a personality right when I haven't played DW8 and the only pieces of personality I have to go on are the occasional pieces of dialogue. **

**Oh, well. Lovers of crack, I hope you'll enjoy this. Everyone else, I hope you'll be gentle.**


End file.
